First time broken down abroad.

grasscutter

grasscutter

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Well currently parked up at Praia de Augas Santas ( Cathedrals Beach ) in Galicia. Driving in last night steering started making a loud whirring noise and heavy when turning. This happened about 5km before getting here. Just stopped to enjoy a view and on restarting the noise started.
As it’s now the weekend thought we may as well stay parked up here and call Safeguard Breakdown on Monday morning. If it is a recovery to a garage then might as well enjoy the weekend here.
As this is what everyone fears when travelling I thought I would start a thread and keep everyone updated on how the process works.
Hold on for the next thrilling instalment. (y) Graham
 
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Sounds similar to what has just happened to
us in France. Just pulling in to the last site of the trip, heard slight knocking sound and then the power steering went. Called out the recovery - we are with NW Flexplus - and it turned out to be the crankshaft pulley has come away from its fixing. They offered to take us to the garage there and then but we decided to stay put and have the last 4 days of the holiday as planned. They came back 4 days later and took the van away and we were provided with hire cars, taxis and one night in a hotel to get us home. That bit all went smoothly with good communication and we were very happy with the service. We are currently awaiting repatriation of the motor home from France through NW Flexplus and this part isn’t going so well so far. 2 weeks have gone by since we requested repatriation and they still haven’t signed off authorisation due to what they say is a backlog at the end of the season. We get no updates so are having to call every couple of days to chase. Once signed off the Ts & Cs day actual repatriation can take up to 3 weeks, which we were prepared for but not this bit waiting for sign off.
 
Sunnyb said:
Sounds similar to what has just happened to
us in France. Just pulling in to the last site of the trip, heard slight knocking sound and then the power steering went. Called out the recovery - we are with NW Flexplus - and it turned out to be the crankshaft pulley has come away from its fixing. They offered to take us to the garage there and then but we decided to stay put and have the last 4 days of the holiday as planned. They came back 4 days later and took the van away and we were provided with hire cars, taxis and one night in a hotel to get us home. That bit all went smoothly with good communication and we were very happy with the service. We are currently awaiting repatriation of the motor home from France through NW Flexplus and this part isn’t going so well so far. 2 weeks have gone by since we requested repatriation and they still haven’t signed off authorisation due to what they say is a backlog at the end of the season. We get no updates so are having to call every couple of days to chase. Once signed off the Ts & Cs day actual repatriation can take up to 3 weeks, which we were prepared for but not this bit waiting for sign off.
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Have you had to empty the MH?

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if you have to, removing the belt and draining the fluid will be fine, then you can drive it as per normal just with slightly heavier steering.
Not in anyway the type of heavy you feel when it packs up as this is just the fluid in the system, not being pumped round, so actually worse as you have to manually steer AND push the fluid through the system.
The whirr could be either an axillary belt slipping or the pump itself failing.
Lets hope it's the former as it's a 15 minute fix at most.
 
Only took valuables and what we could carry as had to come home as foot passengers leaving one hire car in France and picking another up on this side. Obviously emptied all the food and perishables and cleaned everything. Like leaving a child behind ?
 
I hope that its nothing too serious & you get mobile quickly.

However this is a timely reminder about power steering, its best to avoid full steering lock & never hold it on full lock for long, this action stresses the steering beyond its endurance.
The noise of the pump alone should tell you that the vehicle is not happy.

Hopefully for the OP its just a belt that's given up the ghost & I'm not saying that they've caused the problem, its just some words of advice for drivers of any vehicle these days.
 
Good to know Sunnyb that NWFlexPlus breakdown works ok....to a degree !!!

However, I've always been a bit sceptical about the repatriation element as they seem to give little information about this in their policy details. At least there is a service, of sorts, albeit a bit slow at this time of year.
 
Friends who were with the RAC had to have their van repatriated from France a year or 2 ago and that seemed to be very limited in terms of what they would pay. They ended up sourcing the recovery truck from the UK themselves and then claiming back the costs but it was an awful lot of hassle. Can’t fault the service we got on the phone, from the garage and getting us back. We had to arrange nothing and pay for nothing and they were excellent at updating us by phone or text. They are very nice and polite and sympathetic when we call for updates now but seemingly unable to move it forward any quicker. A supervisor has to sign it off - due to the high cost - and there is only one of him and apparently 200 vehicles awaiting repatriation ?. I assume a lot of them are cars. There was a slight delay in getting all the necessary measurements for the garage so they can source and quote the right recovery vehicle but hoping for some real progress this week - will keep you updated.

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DBK said:
Have you had to empty the MH?
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With ADAC they only require that there are no spare fuel containers be they petrol ,diesel or lpg bottles. whether empty or full. I just emptied the fridge ,took what I could & binned anything else.
They told me it would be 3 weeks approx from day I broke down & it was spot on.
 
I mean there was a slight delay in them getting the exact measurements from the garage who recovered it plus someone had used the wrong form for something ...
 
Good luck, I’m sure you’re wise to leave it until Monday, no-one would be doing serious garage work over the weekend. It’s not like a blow out when they’d change it and you’d be on your way other than sourcing a spare.
 
ambulancekidd said:
I hope that its nothing too serious & you get mobile quickly.

However this is a timely reminder about power steering, its best to avoid full steering lock & never hold it on full lock for long, this action stresses the steering beyond its endurance.
The noise of the pump alone should tell you that the vehicle is not happy.

Hopefully for the OP its just a belt that's given up the ghost & I'm not saying that they've caused the problem, its just some words of advice for drivers of any vehicle these days.
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Very good advice.
 
This is a prime example of another thing i should have mentioned in the "dealer service" thread.
Another common thing to not get checked on a service is the state of the auxillary belts. A simple visual inspection usually gives you PLENTY of warning that it's time to change it before it fails (or starts to fail maybe in this case.)

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Well it’s Monday and here’s the update.
Rang recovery at 08-30.
Recovery lorry arrived at 10-20. Manuel the driver spoke much better English than my Spanish.
He took us to a Ford dealership in the nearby town of Foz.
We arrived at 11-25. A mechanic came out to look at the van at 11-55.
They diagnosed a corroded pipe from the power steering pump.
There is a significant leak and fluid drops quickly.
They wrote down the vin number and went off.
At 12-15 the lady owner of the garage came out with her phone and handed it to me.
Her son who spoke good English informed me that the part required is nowhere in stock in Spain.
They have ordered it from Germany and they expect delivery Thursday or Friday and will fit it immediately on arrival.
As the forecourt is not secure we have decided to stay with the van and wait it out.
We have our bicycles etc and will go off exploring.
European recovery assistance have just rung and are getting us a hire car as part of our cover.
We could have also had a hotel but feel that the van and our possessions would be quite vulnerable.
Will update when it does get fixed.
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Good it's sorted and reason known. Make good use of the hire car and explore the area.
 
Good news in the big scheme of things then, you have a hire car to get about and the repair isn't going to cost an arm and a leg ????
Don't see it as a disaster, see it as an opportunity to explore the area you are in. Soak up the culture.
Also gives you time and a reason to brush up on your Spanish ?
 
did say it would sort itself out just enjoy your new surroundings (y)
 
Glad to hear it’s getting sorted. Fingers crossed it will be Thursday. I think you’re wise staying with the van, you wouldn’t really relax if you were at a hotel wondering if your stuff was safe.

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Thursday 26 th September ,Update.
Our breakdowncover from Safeguard has been with the AA and the service has been great.
We had a VW Golf hire car for three days. The only strange thing was the Eurocar office was 120 Kim’s away in Lugo. They organised a taxi to take us there to collect the car.
Rang them yesterday 25/9 to say that we would return the caronthe 26th at 12-15 and could they arrange transport to bring us back.
They sent a confirmation message that all was sorted.
Today the garage received the part we needed at 16-00.
Mechanic started on the repair at about17-30 and all finished at 19-00.
Price was very good. It was a Ford garage and parts and labour came to 167 euro.
So many thanks to the AA, Hermanos Villarino who let us stay on their forecourt and the taxi companies who were great.
Now back on the road and hopefully incident free.
 
Put a review in the insurance section because these are the real life experiences people want to hear about. So pleased it has worked out for you both. Sometimes we get so tied up with the price match we forget the service at renewal time!
 
carolyn said:
Put a review in the insurance section because these are the real life experiences people want to hear about. So pleased it has worked out for you both. Sometimes we get so tied up with the price match we forget the service at renewal time!
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Good idea Carolyn.
I have put a review in the Insurance Section. As you say personal experiences count for a lot.
 
was this on a one trip policy or a yearly one? can you tell us how much it was ?
 
mitzimad said:
was this on a one trip policy or a yearly one? can you tell us how much it was ?
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Included in my annual Motorhome Insurance. Think my premium was about £400

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